Learn French: Dans ce reportage, il s'agit de l'économie du pays. - In this news report, it is about the country's economy.

Dans ce reportage, il s'agit de l'économie du pays.

In this news report, it is about the country's economy.

Breakdown of Dans ce reportage, il s'agit de l'économie du pays.

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

Questions & Answers about Dans ce reportage, il s'agit de l'économie du pays.

Can I change the pronoun in il s'agit de to say things like je m'agis (I am about)?

No, il s'agit de is an impersonal expression. This means it only ever exists with the pronoun il (just like il pleut for "it is raining"). The il doesn't replace a specific person or thing; it simply creates the fixed phrase "it is about" or "it is a matter of".

Could I just say il parle de l'économie instead?

Yes, il parle de (it talks about / it speaks of) works perfectly well and is very common. However, il s'agit de is an excellent phrase to master at this level. It is slightly more formal and is specifically used to define the core theme, plot, or main subject of something like an article, movie, or report.

How does the preposition de in this expression interact with the noun that follows it?

The expression always ends in de, which means you have to be ready to contract it with definite articles. Here, économie starts with a vowel, taking the article l', so we simply write de l'économie. But if the topic were a masculine word starting with a consonant, like le chômage (unemployment), de and le would have to combine into du, becoming il s'agit du chômage.

Why is it du pays at the end of the sentence instead of de le pays?